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Session 3 Recap
Hardholme Game 3, 3/3/2018 In attendance: Chris (as Chris lol), Lauren (Aurelae), Caspar (Aequitas), Steve (Kamara), Cathy (Aurianya), Luther (Buckler), Megan (Maeve), Mike (Forge), and Ryan (Carric). Expedition to the Land of the Red Hylas * It has been 6 weeks since they landed in Hardholme. * Aurianya is on probation from her work duties at The Reach. She was caught trespassing on Fenrir’s farmland. She was trying to see if he was doing “anything weird” with his food…something about the orphans… * Buckler takes Reznor to the Temple in Hardholme. Uthar is nowhere to be seen… * Fallynde spends her time this week taking care of Liblub. * The group goes to see Silas at Prime Manor. ** Silas spends lots of his time gardening, and they meet him in his garden. *** Some of the group ask Silas some fairly silly and obvious questions. *** Silas advises Aequitus that before he goes before the Town Council, he should consider re-naming the monsters that they have encountered to have more, er, serious sounding names. *** Meanwhile, Forge goes exploring and finds a Council Seal. ** The whole place is pretty empty which makes them wonder if the Prime Collective is on the decline. After all, of the last two Prime groups, one declined to join and the other never arrived in Hardholme. *** The 71st may want to consider using this as leverage when needed. ** Aurianya searches for damming evidence while in Prime Manor, but finds nothing. She begins to wonder if perhaps the Prime Collective might be innocent. * Uthar is not at the Temple. Reznor is sad that the Temple is in such disrepair. ** The Temple is huge though! It has an armory, shooting range, barracks, kitchen, and even a fairly extensive (for Hardholme) library. ** A few of the party begin to help clean the Temple. ** Aurianya, Aequitus, and Aurelae go in search of Uthar. And they find him, passed out cold on the side of the road. Aequitus pours his canteen out onto Uthar’s face. He rouses from his sleeping state and they prod him towards the temple. ** Uthar enters the temple and breaks down into joyous tears upon seeing Reznor! What a happy day, indeed. * The party heads to The Reach to discuss what course of action to take when exploring the Hyla territory. They determine that they need more information, so Kamara and Aurelae go ask Goldie what he knows. Aurianya stealths behind them, eavesdropping. ** While there are Red Hyla to the Northwest, there are also a tribe of Red Hyla to the Southwest of Softholme. These Red Hyla repeatedly attacked Softholme, and the people there were lucky to have Dar of the 15th to defend them. *** Dar of the 15th is married to Veera the Gnome. * Meanwhile, Aequitus asks Liblub about the Red Hyla. ** They are across the river, to the west. They (the Hyla, of which there are red, blue, and green) build great cities on lakes. ** The nearest Red Hyla tribe would be about 2 days travel from Hardholme (for Liblub). * They prepare for their journey by gathering 3 weeks’ worth of rations, climbing gear, and whatever other supplies they need. * They pass by the Temple on their way out of town, and Aequitus asks Reznor about his opinion of the defenses for Hardholme. No one outside of the 71st seems to think that there is a security risk, although Aequitus continues to disagree. ** Reznor and Uthar elect Buckler to run the Temple and the Silver Flame. Buckler is honored, and accepts the duty nobly. ** Uthar offers to talk to the Town Council about building some palisades to the north and the east. He says that they tend to respect seniority, so he may have more luck than anyone from the 71st. ** Kamara donates 222g to the Temple to help restore the Library, and Aurelae follows that by donating 223g. ** Uthar is a visibly changed man with the return of his friend Reznor and the promise of the Silver Flame’s return. Day 1: * The group builds a raft and Aurelae sets up a pully system with a rope and an arrow to get them all across the river safely. They head slightly southwest, towards mountains they can see on the horizon. * They set out at a slow pace; the land on this side of the river is very marshy. * They walk all day, then set up camp and watches. * Aurelae and Aurianya spot some Dinnerbirds (3) and hunt them, but are unsuccessful. - Day 2: * More walking. Carric sings pleasantly. * They set up camp and watches. * Aequitus and Forge spot some Wngers, but have no luck in catching any. - Day 3: * The landscape begins to change slightly, and thick trees close in on them on all sides. At first they are worried they will lose sight of the mountain, but Aurelae skillfully climbs the tallest tree and orients their path again. * They continue walking towards the mountain, when they come across four dead Red Hyla…they each have large, deep claw marks in them, with huge chunks of flesh missing. ** Aequitus begins chopping off one of their heads, for his growing creature collection. ** Aurelae reminds him that he might want to keep that one covered, since, you know, they are walking right into Red Hyla territory… ** They loot the bodies (because why not?). There are five obsidian stones (worth 50g) and three makeshift weapons. Kamara takes the obsidian spear, and Aurelae and Aurianya each take an obsidian dagger. ** As the group are gathered around the bodies, Aurianya suddenly realizes that the attackers are still there… * The beasts are these wicked looking cheetah-dinosaur looking things, about the size of a panther. They have scorpion-like tails (the stingers on the end do not look pleasant), and large claws, and sharp looking spikes on their spines. Oh, and a glowing, yellow light emits when they open their mouths that is accompanied by a thunderous sound. The group names them (yes, you got it!) Thundercats. ** The fight begins. Carric and Aurelae are both bitten and take a large amount of damage. ** Aurianya throws her obsidian dagger at a Thundercat, but misses and her dagger is lost to the marsh. ** Aurelae stabs one with her obsidian dagger and it sinks into its flesh doing double damage. “Use the obsidian!” she yells to Kamara as another Thundercats tears into her and she drops to 1 HP. ** Carric is stabbed with the Thundercat tail spike and is paralyzed. ** Aurelae is able to disengage and runs to Maeve who begins to heal her. ** Kamara stabs the closest Thundercat with his obsidian spear and then Aequitus hits it and it falls. ** The other two Thundercats run away. In a last-ditch effort Kamara throws his obsidian spear with finesse at one of the retreating Thundercats and epically stabs it right through the neck killing it! ** The remaining Thundercat continues running. ** Aequitus takes one of the Thundercat heads. Aurianya finds her lost obsidian dagger. ** They take a short rest to recover, then continue walking and encounter a very large, turtle like creature. * Aaaaaaannndddd Aurianya climbs the giant turtle creature, causing it to try to snap at her. She runs, but it starts to turn and begins following her, slowly. Aequitus gives it a frost blast, which slows it down enough so that they can all escape it. * Finally, they can set up camp. ** Some of the group roast the Thundercat meat. It is gamey and tough and not the tastiest food they’ve ever had, but it is satisfying after that battle. ** Forge and Aequitus took some of the Red Hylas meat and they eat it and it is delicious. The rest of the party decline to eat the Red Hylas, as it feels wrong to eat a sentient creature. ** Wngers again at night, but again no luck. - Day 4: * They see what looks like a very large tree trunk with a red orb at the stump. It must weigh at least 100 lbs. * They suspect it might be a territory marker for the Red Hylas, and they explore to see if they can find another one. ** There are Hyla footprints going away from the marker; very likely those of the group they found dead in the marsh. ** They find another, similar marker to the southwest and confirm that it is a territory marker. They are now in Red Hyla territory. ** They continue moving to the south/southwest and do not encounter any more creatures. Night falls and they set up camp. The evening is uneventful. - Day 5: * They travel south at a fast pace. The terrain stays mostly the same – some trees, and marshy land. * Camp and watch. Carric is still attempting to catch a Wnger, but they are tricksey. - Day 6: * Aurelae climbs a tree again to get a feel for their surroundings. And what she sees to the south is…astounding. It is, quite literally, the end of the world. It does not simply END as some have speculated, but rather she can see it curve away, like the world here is shaped like an oblong oval of some kind. It is truly awe-inspiring, and definitely warrants future explorations. But for their purposes today, it means they need to make a hard cut to the west towards the single tall mountain that towers over lesser mountains and hills. * They reach the base of the mountain, finally, and make camp. - Day 7: * Time to climb the mountain. Aurelae leads the group, walking up the face of the mountain with ease in her Spider Silk Slippers, securing the line and hooks for the others to use. * Carric, Aequitus, and Aurelae guide the group up the mountain. They make good headway, but do not reach the peak. * They make camp. The sky here is filled with breathtakingly beautiful silver and gold streaks, like a meteor shower, but more ethereal. They can all see the oval-shaped edge of the world now. - Day 8: * Even more climbing. (Climbing on the southeast side.) * After a few hours they can see a temple! It looks similar in structure and design to The Temple on the Mount to the north that some of the group encountered earlier that month. * To the northwest is a lake with a city built on the surface, just like Liblub described. * Now that they know the lake city is there, they can visit it another day. They decide that it would be better to first explore this temple, since they are right here anyway. * A GIANT DRAGON-WOLF FLIES OVERHEAD!!! It is to the west, and far enough away to not be a threat, but it looks just like the carving at the Temple on the Mount. Oh, and also there are the same carvings on this temple. * Aurelae scouts out this temple through cracks in the wall and sees nothing. They all enter, keeping watch for enemies and traps. * It is the same exact temple set up as the last one. Very interesting. * Night falls. They set up camp in the temple. * First watch: a stone entry way inside the temple opens. Maeve wakes everyone up. * A bunch of Red Hyla jump out of the circular recess in the center of the room and attack. * Aequitus, Forge, and Kamara jump into the fray immediately. Even Maeve joins in the offense. Aurelae shoots one non-lethally and pins it, and attempts to speak with it. Aurianya stabs…herself (LOL). * Out of nowhere WILD MAGIC causes mushrooms to sprout everywhere within 5 feet of Aequitus. * It is a fierce battle, and members of both sides are injured, several of the Red Hyla are dead. * There are two Red Hyla left, and they begin “talking” via Kamara’s mind projection ability. It’s challenging, but Kamara and Aequitus make it work. ** Kamara: “Not want to harm, no violence.” ** Red Hyla: “Leave our country.” ** Kamara: “Your choice attack.” ** Red Hyla: “Your choice invade.” ** Kamara: “Peace.” ** Red Hyla: “Yes, free. Leave.” ** They agree on a truce. Maeve blesses Kamara and Aequitus for making the truce. ** They take a short rest. Carric sings healing songs. * The room is extremely similar to the one at the Temple on the Mount, except both of the doors in the first circular room are locked. One has a pedestal with a red square indention, one with a yellow triangle indention. * There is a treasure chest…with snakes inside! But they are not venomous. - Days 9 - 16: The 71st return to Hardholme - the first successful expedition to cross the river and return.